VideoIQ offers an innovative approach in its iCVR cameras (Fig. 5). SD and HD models are available. HD uses the common 1080p format at 30 fps. The company’s unique approach embeds the storage and intelligence inside the camera itself. The HD sensor produces full-color video that is compressed with H.264 and stored on a 500-Gbyte internal disk drive.
An internal Linux-based computer stores the intelligence software, which includes the video analytics and other algorithms for learning its surroundings and applying common situations to the streamed data. The main benefit of this approach is that it is not necessary to use the Ethernet network connection to stream the video to a server. It’s stored internally.
This is fine since most surveillance video isn’t viewed continuously anyway. It’s stored for later access if needed. Each camera is a complete system unto itself. The connection is via Ethernet back to a monitoring system server. Power is typically via PoE but it can also work off legacy 24 V ac or 12 V dc.
The digital HD makes video surveillance so much better today. It’s a major step forward in video monitoring systems. After all, as Ed Strong of Western Digital asks, “What good is the surveillance if you cannot make out the details that can be used as evidence?”
While HD delivers the detail, you still have to store the video for access later if needed. Thanks to compression and some new high-capacity hard drives, the storage becomes realistic. Western Digital has some new hard drives optimized for the surveillance market.
The Western Digital WD AV-GP line of hard drives now includes a 2-Tbyte capacity device (Fig. 6), the industry’s largest available drive to date. WD AV-GP hard drives with WD GreenPower Technology provide cooler and quieter operation and lower power consumption.
Designed to withstand the stringent environments of the surveillance and security markets, the WD AV-GP hard drives reduce power consumption by as much as 40% over standard drives in their respective classes. The WD AV-GP 2-Tbyte hard drive is perfect for applications such as DVRs and surveillance video recording that demand a higher-capacity hard drive and exceptional reliability. These drives are designed for 24/7 operation.
Xilinx also has software and applications for its FPGAs in video processing. This software works with the company’s Virtex and Spartan FPGA families. For instance, its Spartan-6 Industrial Video Processing Kit includes the LX-150T FPGA development board, DVI/HDMI I/O, an Omnividion OV9715 720P image sensor, and reference designs. The software lets designers program the FPGA for most common image processing jobs like edge enhancement, various image corrections, video scaling, noise reduction, and even video analytics for surveillance applications.